Rav Klonimus Kalman HaLevi Epstein of Cracow

This One Is Mine

It is told that when Rav Klonimus Kalman was a small boy, Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev came to visit his town. As children do, the boy slipped under the tallis of the Berditchever to see what the Rebbe was doing as he davened. The way the tzaddik prayed left such a mark on him that from then on a holy fire burned within him.

Years later, when Rav Klonimus Kalman had grown up and become a well-known talmid of Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk, Rav Elimelech once met the Berditchever while the talmid was with him. Rav Elimelech was proud to have such a holy and distinguished person among his students. The Berditchever looked carefully at the author of Maor VaShemesh and recognized in his face the boy of long ago.

“No, no,” he said to Rav Elimelech, “this one is mine. When he was five years old and hid under my tallis, the holiness already left its mark on him, until he reached the level he has now.”

Almost With the Rebbe

Rav Aharon of Cracow, the son of the Maor VaShemesh, told of a visit he made with his father to the tziyun of Rav Elimelech in Lizhensk. Rav Klonimus Kalman asked his family and followers to let him enter the building over the Rebbe's grave alone, and that no one should come in while he was there. They agreed, and he went in by himself and closed the door from inside, while Rav Aharon and the others waited outside.

He stayed inside for a very long time, much longer than was his custom, and his family grew worried that something had happened. They broke down the door and found him lying stretched out on the grave. They tried to revive him, and after several strong efforts they succeeded. When he came to, he was upset. “What have you done to me?” he cried. “If you had let me lie here a few minutes longer, I would have gone straight into Gan Eden together with the Rebbe.”

A Guest for Tea

A story is told in the name of the Shinover Rav. The Maor VaShemesh, a talmid of Rav Elimelech, once asked to serve his Rebbe so that he could learn from him directly, and Rav Elimelech agreed and asked for a cup of tea. The talmid prepared it and carried it into the room.

There he saw the awesome figure of an old man sitting beside Rav Elimelech. He was overcome with fear and trembling, dropped the cup, spilled the tea and ran out. Later Rav Elimelech met his talmid and asked why he had not brought the tea. He explained that he had brought it, but the sight of the old man had frightened him so much that he spilled it.

“Woe to the child,” said Rav Elimelech, “who cannot look his own father in the face. That old man was none other than Avrohom Avinu.”

Divine Restrictions and Garments

Hashem's essence is beyond what a human being can grasp. In His wisdom He restricted His Divinity so that a person could glimpse a tiny part of the splendor of His light, and He did so by taking on ten garments, the ten sefiros, through which His light reaches man. This tzimtzum (Divine restriction) makes it possible for a person to know Hashem, rising step by step as he sets aside one garment after another until he reaches attachment to the great light of the Ein Sof, the Infinite. Hashem created the physical world after thousands of such restrictions, placing man in it and rewarding him for breaking through these barriers with all his strength to draw near to Him. The greater the restriction, the greater the reward for the one who searches for the truth of Hashem until he removes the last barrier. This is the intent of the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (5:1), which says that the world was created with ten utterances to give a good reward to the righteous who sustain it.

Maor VaShemesh, Bereishis, Lech Lecha (on Bereishis 17:1)

Rise Like a Lion in the Morning

Every Jewish man whose fear of Heaven touches his heart and who wants to serve Hashem should be fierce as a lion upon awakening. His deposit, his soul, has just been returned to him, so he should not indulge in sleep. He should rise and serve Hashem in holiness, whether by learning Torah or singing songs of praise, pouring out his words like water before Hashem. The Maor VaShemesh adds that this was the way of his Rebbe, Rav Elimelech: as soon as he woke from sleep, he would cry out, “Woe to you, you have wasted time with your sleeping.”

Maor VaShemesh, Devarim, Ki Seitzei (on Devarim 22:12); Ohel Elimelech 48; Eser Tzachtzochos 38